“Yep, check it out,” Jayden said excitedly, opening the box to reveal a bag of large building blocks.“Waaa…” James was thrilled at the sight of all the bright colors.“Wait… is the whole box filled with blocks?” Deborah asked, moving closer to see the contents of the box, which was about a meter tall.“Yep, I actually bought around 20 bags,” Jayden declared with excitement. “The idea is to build a huge castle.”“Wow… you really got into this, didn’t you?” Samantha said, looking at the toy bags.“Yes! And now we’re going to play, right, son?” Jayden said, trying to open a bag to dump its contents on the floor.“One moment,” Deborah said, taking the bag of toys away.“But, love…”“We’re not going to create a mess of blocks in the living room,” Deborah said, grabbing the box. “We’ll find a special room for block play.”“Nooo…” Jayden bemoaned.“Son, she’s right,” Eric said. “It’s better to play in a safe place to avoid accidents with the blocks.”“Well… I guess you’re right,”
“Finally, they’ve left the house. I think they’re heading to the mall with the kid,” a male voice said over the phone.“Excellent. Keep watching them,” Marie instructed, ending the call and dialing Isabelle. “Hey, it’s time for your son to play his part. They’re at the mall with the little one.”“Perfect. And lucky for us, it’s his day off, so today is definitely our big day.”“Got it. I’ll see you at the south entrance so we can find them and start the show,” she said, finishing the call. “Well, let’s get ready. Today, Jayden will be back in my arms,” she said, striding toward her wardrobe to choose a very provocative outfit.Meanwhile, Deborah and Jayden had gone out to buy more clothes for James.They entered the mall casually and made their way to the baby boutique, where they began searching for summer clothes and a few formal outfits for when they went out.“Look at this,” Jayden said, holding up a green T-shirt with a cute brown bear face on it. “Do you like it?”“It’s ad
“And so what?” Deborah frowned.“That…”“And what does it matter to you what we do or don’t do?” Deborah said, stepping closer to her beloved and placing herself between them. “And though it hurts, Jayden is the father of our child, and…”“Actually, you’re mistaken there,” a male voice interrupted from behind them.Deborah turned around in surprise to see Roger approaching.“I’m James’ father, and I hope you haven’t forgotten what we agreed on last night.”“What?” Jayden exclaimed angrily, grabbing her arm. “Deborah, what does this mean?”“Jayden… I… I actually made an agreement with Roger last night and…”“What? Are you serious?” he yelled, releasing her and stepping back. “Are you really going to let him near James? He never cared about him!”“Cooper, stop whining. No matter what you do, that child has my blood, so he will always be my son, no matter how much you try to deny it,” Roger said with a smile, moving closer to Deborah.“Stay away from them,” Jayden said, position
At a safe distance from the commotion, Sophia and Isabelle watched the entire scene with smiles on their faces.“Poor thing, she’s lost her golden goose,” Sophia mocked, sipping her juice.“And now we just need to get rid of that kid,” Isabelle said, finishing her coffee.“I guess… but there’s something I don’t understand.”“What’s that?”“Roger is going to register him as his son?”“Obviously,” Isabelle said as she stood up and tossed her empty cup in the trash. “I need George to see that Roger is interested in the kid, so he can get his position back as president.”“I suppose you’re right, but what about me?” Sophia asked, mimicking her and throwing away her trash as they started walking to their vehicle.“For now, you’ll act like a loving stepmother and…”“Forget it… I don’t want to be changing diapers, especially not for a kid who isn’t mine.”“That’s already the case, you fool,” Isabelle snapped, annoyed. “But you need to say that to bother Deborah.”“Ah… got it.”“Onc
“Let him go!” Isabelle demanded, moving in to help her son. She slapped Deborah, sending her sprawling to the ground and making her release the baby. Deborah scowled, glaring hatefully at Isabelle, who flinched under the intensity of that look. “Say another word and I swear you’ll never see your brat again,” Isabelle warned. “Talk about a hypocrite. Just a moment ago he was your grandchild, and now he’s just a brat.” “Obviously, because you’re so useless you couldn’t even give birth to a child who looks like my baby. Therefore, I can’t recognize him as my grandchild.” “Mom, enough.” “You shut up, Roger. I’m doing this for your own good,” Isabelle snapped. “With this brat on our side, we’ll reclaim everything that belongs to us.” “I’m not going to let you use my son as a bargaining chip! Give him back!” Deborah said, trying to advance towards Roger to take him back. But Sophia intervened, shoving her away. “Listen to my mother-in-law and step back,” Sophia ordered, laugh
Isabelle smiled triumphantly as she saw the small lump on the ground, which had stopped crying after the impact. Sophia was in shock, staring at the baby’s body. It was one thing to say they’d get rid of him and another to make it a reality... Roger was equally stunned by what had happened, not believing his mother was capable of such an act. Deborah had fallen to her knees, her head lowered, silent and motionless. “Well, I think I’m satisfied now,” Isabelle said with a smug grin, dusting off her hands. “Yeah, I suppose you are,” Deborah said, struggling to stand while discreetly pulling something from her clothes. “Oh, come on. You’re still young, and I hope next time you’ll give birth to a child who actually looks like his father,” Isabelle said, adjusting her clothes. “You know, it’s funny what you’re saying,” Deborah said, lifting her gaze to meet Isabelle’s eyes. “Because if we follow that logic...” she said, pointing a gun at Roger, “then we should kill Roger becaus
“Wait… you knew about this?”“What the hell is going on?” Isabelle demanded furiously as she struggled to stand with Sophia's help.“I think it’s pretty obvious, Mom.”“We organized this to teach you a lesson,” came a sharp voice from behind them.The voice was so familiar that it made Isabelle tremble. She spun around to find George, Elliot, and several police officers staring back at her.“So...” Elliot said, glancing sideways at the detective, Alistair.“With all this evidence, we can place Isabelle in a psychiatric facility where she will be safely confined without harming anyone,” Alistair stated.“What…? A psychiatric facility?” Sophia echoed, her voice trembling. “But she… she just killed the baby...”“Sophia, be grateful that this beautiful baby only represents a financial loss,” Deborah said, approaching the bundle on the ground to pull back the blanket. Beneath it were shards of porcelain and a sound box. “If it had really been my James, you and this old hag would alr
A little while earlier, Jayden had quickly walked away, pretending to be hurt by Deborah’s ‘betrayal.’ He also noticed a reporter following them closely, which meant Marie had paid someone to record everything happening to create a scandal around their breakup.“Jayden...” Marie called out as she ran to catch up with him, grabbing his arm.“Marie, seriously... I want to be alone,” he said, stopping to look at her, trying to hold back tears.“No, my love, don’t cry. That woman doesn’t deserve it,” she said, moving closer to touch his face and trying to dry his tears.This close moment was discreetly photographed, just as Marie had planned. She continued playing the role of the supportive shoulder for her beloved.“But I loved her, and... and I thought the three of us...”“If what you want is a family, I can give you that,” she said, taking his face in her hands.“What...” Jayden looked at her, confused.“Yes, Jayden, you know, all this time we’ve been apart, I never stopped th